Multiple Media Fail-Over To Alternate Media

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a system and method for failing over from a current network access medium to an alternative network access medium. A customer premises equipment (CPE) box has ports for connections to a network through several network access media, such as high speed cable connections, DSL connections and dial-up connections. QoS parameters for each of the connections are monitored from a bandwidth manager remote from the CPE box. When it is determined that a fail-over would be beneficial, a message is sent from the bandwidth manager to the CPE box containing a command to fail-over and an identity of the alternate network access media.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/802,870, filed Jun. 16, 2010, entitled “MultipleMedia Fail-Over to Alternate Media,” which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety, which is a continuation application of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/884,413, filed Jul. 3, 2004, entitled“Multiple Media Fail-Over to Alternate Media,” now U.S. Pat. No.7,769,021, issued Aug. 3, 2010, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to providing a reliable widearea network connection for customer premises equipment. Specifically,the invention provides a method and apparatus for detecting failure ordegradation of a network connection and switching to an alternateconnection.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is frequently the case that a communications subscriber has access toa communications network through more than one access medium. Forexample, a single residence may have the capability to connect to theInternet through a residential digital subscriber line (DSL) connectionand a high-speed cable connection. Further, most DSL and cable usershave dial-up network access available as well. Frequently, more than onetelephone line in a residence may be used for dial-up access to theInternet.

No network access medium is perfectly reliable. Network connections maydegrade or fail for numerous reasons. For example, catastrophic physicalproblem such as a cable cut may cause a network connection to dropabruptly or suddenly degrade as traffic is rerouted. Network-relatedproblems such as high network traffic volume may cause a networkconnection to gradually degrade or to fail intermittently.

A failure in a network is not detected by a subscriber until theperformance of his or her connection degrades. At that point, thesubscriber has several options. The subscriber can tolerate the slowedconnection or discontinue the activity altogether. If the subscriber hasan alternative connection available, he or she may manually terminatethe current connection to the network (if not already terminated) andmanually reconnect through the alternate medium. If the applicationrequires a login sequence, then that must be redone. If the connectedapplication is streaming data such as audio or video, then that streamis interrupted for the time taken to change over to the new networkaccess medium.

From a subscriber's point of view, it is difficult to determine whetherservice degradation is, in fact, due to a failure in an access medium,or is due to other network problems further upstream. For example, in acase where service degradation is due to problems at the applicationserver itself, a subscriber may change from one access medium to analternative access medium without experiencing any resulting improvementin service quality.

Systems have been proposed to deal with fail-overs in otherapplications. U.S. Pat. No. 6,389,555 to Purcell et al. discloses asystem for handling a link failure within a computer system withperipherals. Upon detection of a failure across a first link, the systemengages fail-over mechanisms to re-establish communications over asecond link.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,714,534 to Gerszberg et al. proposes a telephone networkarchitecture that bypasses the local exchange carrier. Fail-overlifeline service is provided using cable, twisted pair or wirelesssolutions. An automatic change-over mechanism is not described.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,373,852 to Foladare et al. discloses an apparatus andmethod for linking multiple baseband telephone lines to providebroadband communication. For example, the invention allows an individualto use multiple plain old telephone service (POTS) lines in combinationto emulate the capability of a broadband line.

There is presently a need for a method and system that can detect andpossibly predict a connection failure in a medium providing a wide areanetwork connection. The system should be capable of automaticallychanging from the failed or failing medium to an alternative, intactmedium, with a minimum of disruption to the network connection services.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the needs described above with a systemand method for providing multiple media fail-over to an alternatemedium. In one embodiment, the method provides automatic fail-overservice for premises equipment that is accessing a network via a firstnetwork access medium. The fail-over service provides fail-over from thefirst network access medium to a second network access medium.

The method includes the step of determining, at a location remote fromthe premises equipment, a status relating to at least one of the firstand second network access media, and, based on the status, transmittinga message to the premises equipment to change from accessing the networkvia the first network access medium to accessing the network via thesecond network access medium.

The location remote from the subscriber may be an application serverconnected through the network to the premises equipment. The step ofdetermining a status may include receiving responses to network pingsdirected to the premises equipment.

Each of the first and second network access media may be a T1 service, aT3 service, a DSL line, an HFC cable network or a standard telephoneaccess line. At least one of the first and second network access mediamay be a plurality of baseband access media carrying a signalmultiplexed among them

The step of determining a status may comprise obtaining current QoSmetrics. That step may further comprise obtaining historical QoS metricsand comparing the current QoS metrics to the historical QoS metrics. Inthose cases, the method may also include the step of comparing at leastone QoS metric of the first network access medium to a corresponding QoSmetric of the second network access medium. The step of transmitting amessage to change network access media may be performed only if the QoSmetric of the second network access medium indicates a greater QoS thanthe corresponding QoS metric of the first network access medium.

The method may also include retrieving from a database an address of thepremises equipment on the first network access medium, retrieving anaddress of the premises equipment on the second network access medium,and sending network pings to the retrieved addresses. Further, themethod may include creating a record of the message transmitted to thepremises equipment for use in a report

In another embodiment of the invention, a bandwidth manager providesautomatic fail-over service between first and second network accessmedia connections from premises equipment to a network. The bandwidthmanager is configured to perform the steps of determining a statusrelating to at least one of the first and second network access media,and, based on the status, sending a message to customer premisesequipment to fail-over from the first network access medium to thesecond network access medium.

The bandwidth manager may be located in an application server connectedto the premises equipment. Further, the step of determining a status maycomprise receiving responses to network pings directed to the premisesequipment.

The first and second network access media connected to the bandwidthmanager may be a T1 trunk, a T3 trunk, a DSL line, an HFC cable networkor a standard telephone access line. The step of determining a statusmay comprise obtaining current QoS data. In that case, the step ofdetermining a status may further comprise obtaining historical QoS dataand comparing the current QoS data to the historical QoS data.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, premises equipment has anautomatic fail-over service between first and second network accessmedia connections to a wide area network. The premises equipmentincludes a first connection to the network via a first network accessmedium and a second connection to the network via a second networkaccess medium.

The premises equipment also includes a processor for executinginstructions to receive a command from a remote location to fail-overfrom the first connection to the second connection, and to respond tothat command by failing over from the first connection to the secondconnection.

The processor may further be for executing instructions to maintain thesecond connection in an active state. The second connection may be viadial-up modem, in which case the instructions to maintain the secondconnection in an active state include instructions to redial the modemas necessary. The premises equipment may include a LAN connection forclient computers.

The processor may further be for executing instructions for storing arecord of the failing-over in a report database At least one of thefirst and second communications connections may include a plurality ofbaseband connections and a data converter for converting between aplurality of multiplexed signals on the baseband connections and asingle demultiplexed signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network access system, according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a customer premises equipment boxaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting a method according to an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a system utilizing one embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart depicting a method utilized in one embodiment ofthe invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a technique and system for changingnetwork access from a failed or failing network access medium to analternative network access medium, preferably without activeintervention by a subscriber and without substantial interruption in thesubscriber's network access service.

As shown in FIG. 1, a system according to the invention includes aclient terminal 150 connected through a wide area network such as theInternet 120 to a bandwidth manager 110 and to an application server118. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1, thebandwidth manager includes a simulation server 116 and a database 115.

While the application server 118 and the bandwidth manager 110 are shownin the embodiment of FIG. 1 as separate entities, the bandwidth managermay reside within or be associated with the application server 118. Inthat case, the bandwidth manager may provide the fail-over services ofthe invention only for connections between the client terminal 150 andthe application server 118. Alternatively, the bandwidth manager mayprovide the fail-over services of the invention as part of a networkservices bundle offered to a residential or business customer, in whichcase the fail-over services are available for a network connectionbetween the client terminal 150 and any server on the network.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, the bandwidth manager mayprovide fail-over services in association with a number of subscribingapplication servers. In that case, the fail-over services are availablefor connections from any client terminal to a subscribing applicationserver.

The client terminal 150 connects to the Internet through a customerpremises equipment (CPE) box 140 as described in more detail below. TheCPE Box 140 has connection ports for a plurality of alternative networkmedium A 131, network medium B 132, network medium C 133. For example,network access medium A may be a high-speed cable connection such as ahybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) connection. Network access medium B may be aDSL connection over a twisted pair line into the residence or business.Network access medium C may be a dial-up connection using a phone linemodem connected to the same or a different twisted pair. Other possiblenetwork access media contemplated by the invention include T1/T3 trunksover twisted pair, coaxial cable or fiber, cellular wirelessconnections, and an IEEE 802.11, WIMAX (802.16), 802.20 or similarwireless connection to a local hub. The invention, however, is notlimited to those media, and other media may be used without departingfrom the spirit of the invention.

The network access media may further include two or more alternativeconnections through similar media. For example, a residence may have twoalternative DSL connections through two twisted pair lines. That sameresidence may have modem dial-up connections through those same lines. Abusiness may have more than one T1 or T3 trunk service. In eachinstance, it is possible for a connection to be reinstated over analternate route using similar media in the event that a route fails oris degraded.

A CPE media box 200 according to one embodiment of the invention isshown in FIG. 2. The media box 200 contains a connection 250 to aresidential or business local area network (LAN) containing one or moreclient terminals. For example, the LAN may be a wired Ethernet networkor may be an 802.11 wireless network.

In addition, the media box 200 contains a plurality of gateways tonetwork access media. For example, the media box 200 contains a frameconnection 230 for access through a T1 or T3 trunk. A cable connector235, together with a cable modem (not shown) provides access through ahigh-speed cable connection. A DSL connector 240 permits network accessthrough a DSL connection. A dial-up modem 245 provides for dial-upnetwork access.

The media box 200 furthermore may contain a connection manager 260 forcontrolling and managing connections to the network. In that embodiment,a processor is provided in the media box 200 to perform those functions.Alternatively, the connection manager 260 may reside as software runningin one of the client terminals.

The connection manager 260 routes communications between the clientterminals and the wide area network over a selected one of the availablenetwork connections, and can change the selected one of the connectionsin response to a command received through the public network from thebandwidth manager. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, theconnection manager may route communications over network access medium A131, medium B 132 or medium C 133.

The connection manager may maintain each of the network access media131, 132, 133 in an active state. While a cable connection or a DSLconnection may be an “always on” connection, a dial-up connection mayrequire occasional re-dialing as DHCP IP address leases expire, etc. Theconnection manager maintains the dial-up connections and similarconnections by taking whatever action is necessary to maintain theconnections active.

Alternatively, the connection manager may bring up needed connections ondemand. For example, if the connection manager receives a command fromthe bandwidth manager to switch to a dial-up connection, the connectionmanager may initiate that connection by dialing a network serviceprovider number through the modem and establishing the connection usingany necessary ID and passwords.

The media box 200 may further be capable of combining several networkaccess media to create a virtual high speed link, as is disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 6,373,852 to Foladare et al., which is hereby incorporatedby reference herein in its entirety. For example, a plurality oftelephone lines may be connected to the media box 200 through aplurality of modems. The media box in that case has the capability tomultiplex/demultiplex packet streams received or sent over the pluralityof lines. A node in the telephone network performs the complementaryoperations at the opposite end of the media.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method 300 performed by the bandwidth manager 110(FIG. 1) in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The methodis described with two alternative network access media. A larger numberof network access media increases the likelihood that at least one hasadequate performance. In the method, the bandwidth manager determines astatus (step 320) relating to at least one of the first and secondnetwork access media. In a preferred embodiment, the bandwidth managermonitors the connections through the first and second access media todetect status changes that may warrant a fail-over.

The bandwidth manager monitors the status of each network access mediumconnected to a CPE box by transmitting network pings to the CPE box andmeasuring round trip time, error rate and other parameters.

A bandwidth manager capable of monitoring network connections as is donein the present invention is described in the commonly-assigned U.S.patent application entitled, “Method and System for DynamicallyAdjusting QoS,” inventors Mark Foladare et al., U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/732,750, filed on Dec. 10, 2003, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety. The bandwidth manager 110(FIG. 1) can obtain, receive, and/or collect current data and/orhistorical data, such as Quality of Service data, that relates to thesubscribed service, the subscriber, the access point, the connection,and/or a link of the connection. QoS data can include a QoS metricand/or a QoS-affecting variable.

Bandwidth manager 110 can store current data and/or historical data indatabase 115. Bandwidth manager 110 and/or simulation server 116 canaccess database 115 and/or other data sources to obtain current dataand/or historical data.

Simulation server 116 can analyze the current data and/or historicaldata. The analysis can include modeling future data based on the currentand/or historical data. For example, one or more future QoS metrics canbe estimated based on one or more current QoS metrics and/or one or morehistorical QoS metrics. This modeling can include modeling one or morefuture QoS metrics based on varying a QoS-affecting variable.

Based on the results of the analysis performed by simulation server 116,the bandwidth manager can adjust a predetermined QoS-affecting variableand thereby change a future QoS metric. Those QoS-affecting variablesinclude the selection of a network access medium for the networkconnection, as described herein.

A wide variety of analytical techniques can be applied to current and/orhistorical data, such as, for example, probability analyses (e.g., apriori probabilities, conditional probabilities, and/or posterioriprobabilities, etc.), distribution analysis, sampling theory,classification analysis (e.g., Bayesian Decision Theory, parametrictechniques (such as Bayesian estimation, maximum likelihood estimation,and/or Markov models, etc.), nonparametric techniques (such as Parzenwindows, nearest neighbor, etc.), linear discriminant techniques, neuralnetworks, stochastic methods, nonmetric methods, algorithm-independentmachine learning, and/or unsupervised learning and/or clustering),correlation theory and/or analysis (e.g., curve fitting, regression,multiple correlation, and/or partial correlation, etc.), analysis ofvariance, analysis of time series (e.g., smoothing, moving averages,trend estimation, estimation of seasonal variations and/or seasonalindex, deseasonalization, estimate of cyclic variations, and/or estimateof irregular variations, etc.), forecasting, queuing theory, decisiontheory, and/or information theory.

For example, simulation server 116 can analyze current and/or historicaldata to determine patterns and/or dependencies, such as how changes invalues of a variable affects QoS metrics such as sound clarity, soundfidelity, voice quality, video picture quality, video picture movement,video frame rate, response time, and/or error rate, etc. Based on theanalysis of simulation server 116, QoS can be improved and/or optimized.Specifically, QoS can be optimized by selecting an optimum networkaccess medium for use in the network connection.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a technique 400for determining a status of a network access medium. One or morehistorical QoS metrics are initially obtained (step 410). One or morecurrent QoS metrics are also obtained (step 420). The historical and/orcurrent QoS metrics are analyzed (step 430). One or more future QoSmetrics are then estimated (step 440). A QoS-affecting variable is thendetermined (step 450). The QoS-affecting variable may then be adjusted(step 460). Any of activities 410, 420, 430, 440, 450 and/or 460 may berepeated throughout the duration of a connection, and/or as long as anaccess point is being utilized by a subscribed service.

The above technique may be employed to determine a status of any or allof the network access media connections. The bandwidth manager thenmakes a determination whether to change from the currently-used networkaccess medium to an alternative network access medium. Thatdetermination may be made by comparing one or more QoS metrics from eachof the available media. If a medium is available with QoS metrics thatindicate improved performance over the currently-used medium, then aswitch is made.

To increase the stability of the system, the bandwidth manager mayauthorize a fail-over only if the QoS metrics show that a medium isavailable that will produce some predetermined improvement inperformance over the status quo; for example, the bandwidth manager willauthorize a fail-over only if it will produce a 30% improvement overcurrent conditions.

Alternatively, the bandwidth manager may consider a fail-over only ifperformance using the current connection falls below some thresholdvalue. The bandwidth manager, however, must also consider QoS metrics ofthe alternate connections to avoid failing over to a network accessmedium that has the same or poorer performance than the currentconnection. That may occur especially when the cause of a connectionfailure or degradation not related to the access media. For example, inthe case of a general crisis or a large denial of service attack, highnetwork traffic levels may cause service degradation over all networkaccess media, and changing between access media will not yield animproved connection.

In the case where the bandwidth manager has available as a fail-overoption a virtual high-speed connection formed by combining a pluralityof baseband network access media as a single, multiplexed connection (asdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,373,852 discussed above), QoS data must begathered for the combined connection. A combined QoS metric could bemeasured by actually establishing the connection in advance, or themetric could be estimated, taking into consideration bandwidth losses tochannel coordination functions, etc.

The method and system of the invention use the vantage point of thebandwidth manager in the network for determining whether a networkaccess medium is degrading, whether it would be advantageous to changeto another access medium, and, if so, which of the alternative accessmedia would yield the best performance. Because QoS data is gathered onthe network side of the access media, more information is available foraccurately measuring and comparing performance.

The bandwidth manager 110 may be configured to retain in a reportdatabase records of fail-over commands sent to the premises equipment,and to generate and deliver reports from time to time. The reports maytabulate or summarize how often a network access medium was switched, afrequency of use of the network access media, and performance/QoSmeasurements of each of the network access media. Those records andreports may alternatively be stored and/or generated at the premisesequipment.

Returning to FIG. 3, once it is determined that a fail-over will likelyimprove the network connection to the CPE box, and, if so, which of theavailable alternative access media is likely to yield the best QoS, amessage is transmitted (step 330) to the premises equipment to changefrom the current network access medium to a specified fail-over medium.Upon receiving the command, the CPE box begins using the specifiedalternate access medium for establishing network connections.

In certain cases, the bandwidth manager may determine that a fail-overto a dial-up network access medium will yield the best QoS metrics. Asnoted above, the CPE box may maintain an active dial-up connection foruse as a fail-over network access medium. In another embodiment of theinvention, the dial-up connection is not established until thatdetermination is made; i.e., when the command from the bandwidth manageris received at the CPE box, the modem in the CPE box dials a telephonenumber of a network service provider and establishes a connection. Ifthe performance of an as-yet unestablished dial-up connection isconsidered in determining whether to fail-over, that performance must bebased on predicted or historic QoS metrics because, without acurrently-established dial up connection to measure, no real-time datais available.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a full-featured network accesssystem according to the invention. A network hosting center 500 serves acustomer premises location 540 through an IP common backbone 530. Wherean ATM network is used, the IP common backbone preferably utilizesmulti-protocol label switching (MPLS) to speed the ATM network inrouting IP packets. Network access of the CPE box 550 is provided viaalternative media; i.e., medium A, medium B and medium C.

The customer location 530 includes a CPE box 550 which contains aconnection manager 570, as described above. In addition, the CPE box maycontain one or more of a router 551, firewall 552, wireless base station553, wireless LAN management module 554, IPsec gateway 555 and VoIPgateway 556. Those components may work integrally with the connectionmanager 570 to optimize the fail-over technique of the invention.

For example, in maintaining connections over alternate media, theconnection manager 570 may maintain a secure connection over analternate network access medium via the IPsec gateway 555. In that way,measurements of QoS parameters across that medium will reflect theadditional burden of the IPsec protocol, and yield a more accurateindication of the real-world performance of that medium.

Similarly, if the network connection is being used for VoIP, the VoIPgateway 556 may be used to receive and reply to test messages to moreaccurately reflect QoS in a VoIP environment.

At the customer location 540, the CPE box 550 may provide a networkconnection for various local networks, such as a PBX 557 and LAN 558.Preferably, the CPE box provides full networking and securitycapability, permitting the customer to utilize a thin client workstation560 to communicate with a thin client server 526 of the hosting center.Wireless networking capability of the CPE box further enables the directuse of an 802.11 cordless phone.

The hosting center 500 may be provided by a network access provider orby a separate entity. The hosting center includes a bandwidth manager528 as described above. Additionally, the hosting center may include oneor more application servers 524. Gateways 522 provide hop-on/hop-offfunctionality. The hosting center may further enable self-provisioningand monitoring 520.

The foregoing Detailed Description is to be understood as being in everyrespect illustrative and exemplary, but not restrictive, and the scopeof the invention disclosed herein is not to be determined from theDetailed Description, but rather from the claims as interpretedaccording to the full breadth permitted by the patent laws. For example,while the method of the invention is described herein as being usedprimarily in connection with the use of multiple network access mediaconnecting a residential LAN to the Internet, other applications arealso contemplated. For example, the invention may be used in connectionwith an office LAN connected to a wide-area enterprise network through aplurality of T1 or T3 trunks, for example. In that case, the QoSparameters of those trunks are remotely monitored from a bandwidthmanager in the enterprise network according to the technique of theinvention, and a fail-over is performed when performance would beimproved. It is to be understood that the embodiments shown anddescribed herein are only illustrative of the principles of the presentinvention and that various modifications may be implemented by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing automatic fail-overservice for premises equipment that is accessing a network via a firstnetwork access medium, the fail-over service providing fail-over fromthe first network access medium to a second network access medium, themethod comprising: at a bandwidth manager, transmitting a first networkping through the network and through the first network access medium tothe premises equipment; at the bandwidth manager, receiving from thepremises equipment a response to the first network ping; determining astatus of the first network access medium based on the response to thefirst network ping; at a bandwidth manager, transmitting a secondnetwork ping through the network and through the second network accessmedium to the premises equipment; at a bandwidth manager, receiving fromthe premises equipment a response to the second network ping;determining a status of the second network access medium based on theresponse to the second network ping; and based on the status of thefirst and second network access media, transmitting a message to thepremises equipment to change from accessing the network via the firstnetwork access medium to accessing the network via the second networkaccess medium.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the bandwidth manageris an application server connected through the network to the premisesequipment.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the status of the first andsecond network access media comprise current quality of service metricsof the first and second network access media.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the message is transmitted to the premises equipment only if thequality of service metric of the second network access medium indicatesa superior quality of service than the corresponding quality of servicemetric of the first network access medium.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein transmitting the message to the premises equipment is furthercontingent on obtaining historical quality of service metrics andcomparing the current quality of service metrics to the historicalquality of service metrics.
 6. The method of claim 3, whereindetermining a status of the first network access medium based on theresponse to the first network ping, and determining a status of thesecond network access medium based on the response to the second networkping, each further comprise: at a simulation server, modeling futurequality of service metrics based on the current quality of servicemetrics.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein modeling future quality ofservice metrics is further based on historic quality of service metrics.8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second network accessmedia are selected from a group consisting of a T1 service, a T3service, a digital subscriber line, a hybrid fiber coaxial cable networkand a standard telephone access line.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereinat least one of the first and second network access media is a pluralityof baseband access media carrying a signal multiplexed among them. 10.The method of claim 1, further comprising: creating for use in a reporta record of the message transmitted to the premises equipment.
 11. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computerreadable instructions for providing automatic fail-over service forpremises equipment that is accessing a network via a first networkaccess medium, the fail-over service providing fail-over from the firstnetwork access medium to a second network access medium, whereinexecution of the computer readable instructions by a processor causesthe processor to perform operations comprising: transmitting a firstnetwork ping through the network and through the first network accessmedium to the premises equipment; receiving from the premises equipmenta response to the first network ping; determining a status of the firstnetwork access medium based on the response to the first network ping;transmitting a second network ping through the network and through thesecond network access medium to the premises equipment; receiving fromthe premises equipment a response to the second network ping;determining a status of the second network access medium based on theresponse to the second network ping; and based on the status of thefirst and second network access media, transmitting a message to thepremises equipment to change from accessing the network via the firstnetwork access medium to accessing the network via the second networkaccess medium.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim11, wherein the bandwidth manager is an application server connectedthrough the network to the premises equipment.
 13. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the status of the firstand second network access media comprise current quality of servicemetrics of the first and second network access media.
 14. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the messageis transmitted to the premises equipment only if the quality of servicemetric of the second network access medium indicates a superior qualityof service than the corresponding quality of service metric of the firstnetwork access medium.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 14, wherein transmitting the message to the premises equipmentis further contingent on obtaining historical quality of service metricsand comparing the current quality of service metrics to the historicalquality of service metrics.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 13, wherein determining a status of the first networkaccess medium based on the response to the first network ping, anddetermining a status of the second network access medium based on theresponse to the second network ping, each further comprise: at asimulation server, modeling future quality of service metrics based onthe current quality of service metrics.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein modeling future quality ofservice metrics is further based on historic quality of service metrics.18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein thefirst and second network access media are selected from a groupconsisting of a T1 service, a T3 service, a digital subscriber line, ahybrid fiber coaxial cable network and a standard telephone access line.19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein atleast one of the first and second network access media is a plurality ofbaseband access media carrying a signal multiplexed among them.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, the operationsfurther comprising: creating for use in a report a record of the messagetransmitted to the premises equipment.